Styrofoam, Rigid Plastic Drop-off Coming in October

If there is one question Zero Waste Melrose has been getting as much as any other during the pandemic, it’s “when (or where) will I be able to drop off my Styrofoam for recycling?”

There’s another item that’s also much on residents’ minds--rigid plastic. In fact, some of ZWM’s members have been seeing rigid plastic items increasingly placed on the curb for trash pickup, as people take advantage of their increased time at home to conduct clean-outs.

Rigid plastic can be recycled too--just not in the curbside bin. Fortunately, the Melrose Department of Public Works (DPW) has resumed its schedule of Saturday collection events (with the exception of the Fall Swap Day), and that schedule has designated Saturday, October 17, as the day for dropping off both Styrofoam and rigid plastics at the City Yard on Tremont Street.

Many people wonder, however, what exactly counts as rigid plastic, such that it has to be recycled in some fashion other than curbside? After all, detergent containers for the laundry room are pretty rigid, and yet they can go in the curbside bin. Indeed, as a general rule of thumb, you can put in your curbside bin any tub, jar, bottle, or container for products used in the kitchen, bathroom, or laundry, regardless of whether it’s glass, aluminum, or plastic.

A key concept in the case of rigid plastics is size--and that’s why some municipal collection events for this type of material refer to “bulky rigid plastics.” It helps to give some examples: milk crates; plastic lawn and patio furniture; large children’s play sets and plastic toys; storage containers; buckets; old trash cans and, yes, recycling bins. These are the kinds of items that you can bring to the City Yard on October 17.

Of course, if any of these items that you no longer need are still in good, working condition, we suggest you consult the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP) “Beyond the Bin” guide. The guide provides responsible alternatives for products that are no longer of use to you but still have life in them. You may also consider joining some of the “free stuff” Facebook sites, like “Buy Nothing Melrose” or “Everything is Free Melrose.” At these sites, you and your neighbors can post offerings of items you no longer need and arrange for the exchange with respondents.

In any case, we’d like to keep bulky rigid plastics out of the trash, which increases the weight of what Melrose sends to the Covanta incinerator in Haverhill for disposal, and thus increases our costs. Plus, it’s just nice to know that an item may still be of use to someone else.